State Briefs: 12/04/07

Project will block view of inmates

SPRINGFIELD - A project to apply a special translucent film to more than 200 windows at the Sangamon County Jail should be finished early this week.

Sheriff Neil Williamson said the frosted windows could solve several problems at the jail connected to people who congregate outside the building.

People often gather outside the jail and attempt to get the attention of inmates inside. They wave at the inmates, hold up signs, and in some cases, expose themselves for the inmates.

"The women will actually flash the inmates," Williamson said earlier this year. "They disrobe right in the street."

Bike trail rerouting causes concern

SPRINGFIELD - An area bicyclist has some safety concerns about a plan to reroute a local bicycle trail around a future shopping center.

Rowan Woolfolk, a former Illinois Department of Transportation employee, agrees that the trail needs to be rerouted when busy MacArthur Boulevard is extended. He is concerned, however, that cyclists will put themselves in danger by taking some tempting shortcuts along the rerouted section.

Plans call for MacArthur to be six lanes wide near Legacy Pointe, a new residential/commercial development. The plan is to move the Interurban Trail to the west as it nears Legacy Pointe. It will head north and south along a line of trees on the backside of Legacy Pointe and then back east to the existing trail.

Woolfolk's concern involves the section that will cross two future roads in the proposed development. Instead of a straight shot north and south, directly across the two perpendicular roads, plans call for the trail to head up each road for about half a block so bikers and walkers can cross the roads at stoplights.

Woolfolk, who uses the Interurban Trail about four times a week, said that, instead of taking the longer jogs in the trail, he believes trail users will simply go directly across the two roads at the points where they intersect the trail.

"Human behavior is going to dictate that they do something other than (cross at the lights)," Woolfolk said.

Dave Ross, president of the Springfield Bike Club, said the club, overall, is pleased with the new trail design.

"We are pleased with the rerouting going around ... the development, instead of straight down MacArthur Boulevard. It will be a much more pleasant experience," Ross said.

The first phase of Legacy Pointe and the MacArthur extension are scheduled to be finished in 2009.

St. Francis reports salt stolen after ice storm

PEORIA - At least three people took salt from OSF Saint Francis Medical Center's salt pile at the intersection of Wayne Street and Glendale Avenue after Saturday's ice storm.

Employees told police they watched video feed from a camera located in the area and saw one man shovel about 12 piles of salt into the back of his pickup truck about 5:30 p.m.

While the officer was writing a report about the incident, St. Francis security called at least three more times to report people walking up to the pile and taking salt.

Reports listed the stolen salt's value at about $30.

Nancy Brinker's protocol role puts her on the front lines with presidents and prime ministers

PEORIA - Peoria native Nancy Brinker has spent the last three months meeting and greeting world leaders.

She was sworn in to her new position as State Department chief of protocol on Sept. 14, and since that time has worked to remake the office.

"One of the things I want to do is transform the way . . . protocol is done in this country," Brinker said. She hopes to bring structure and mission to the job. "In addition to the visit section and gifts section ... I am adding outreach," Brinker said.

Brinker's responsibilities include advising and assisting the president, vice president and secretary of state on official matters of diplomatic procedure. She is responsible for planning, hosting and officiating events for visiting chiefs of state and heads of government, as well as coordinating logistics for the visits.

She has already worked with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

There are more than 150,000 diplomats, including ambassadors and officers, living in this country.

She hopes to help members of the House and Senate become more connected to the diplomatic community.

An important part of her job is accompanying the president on official visits abroad. She also serves as the president's personal representative and liaison to the foreign ambassadors in Washington, D.C.

"It is an amazing time," Brinker said. "In addition to everything else, I am having the rare opportunity to ... study hundreds of leaders. Often times I am the first person they meet."

She plans to blog at http://blogs.state.gov <http://blogs.state.gov> after major visits.

Contributing: State Journal-Register and Peoria Journal Star